When small businesses first started to market on Facebook, many business owners used their own personal account to broadcast their message to the masses. This was fine. You connected with a person who shared not only personal thoughts and stories, but something about their business. A little later, people started to get creative and create accounts for their business. This meant you became “friends” with a hotel, a bar, or a local plumbing service. This was so-so, but not really the best way to do it. Along came the growth of Facebook fan pages. This is where it is at for businesses to really execute and build awareness to a Facebook community. Simply put here are five strong reasons that accounts need to be actual people with real stories, and administrate and reference business ideas and information on their fan pages:

1. Like we said, Fan pages can be managed by one or more accounts. It means you log in with one account and can go manage several fan pages while logged in as that person. Too much? You can add other administrators as well to help, without having to worry about sharing accounts, or passwords.

2. Fan pages are a one-way relationship. The entity exists whether you have 5 fans, 500, or 5,000. Do you really want to be in the business of having to accept all those requests as a friend request one by one?

3. Fan pages have metrics. It shows you demographics of your fan base, trends of adds, drops, interactions, and article effectiveness. None of this is available on personal account pages.

4. You can always suggest the page to fellow Facebook friends, or post links on Twitter, Linked In, or in your email marketing. Potential fans can visit the page and instantly decide if they want to subscribe or not without waiting for a friend request to be accepted.

5. Separation of business and personal information. Fans of your business might not want every nook and cranny detail of your life, just your business or information on your industry. Or maybe your friends just like you as a friend and not about your business. It allows your friends to be social, your fans to connect with your business, and those that want both, to hear both sides of the story.

Hope you find this helpful. We’d love to hear your comments and thoughts on how you use Facebook to manage content for a business, or how you use that information as a consumer perhaps.

Our January Tweetup will be on Southside Bethlehem on January 14, 2010.  Starting at 6pm, we will be at Home and Planet (25 East 3rd Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015) for a wine and cheese mixer.  At 7pm, we’ll brave the cold and muster over to The Bookstore (336 Adams Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015) from 7-9pm.

RSVP on Twtvite!

Nothing completes a calendar year like a good top 10 list.  In reading recent lists concerning top 10 stories around social media in 2009, no one can dispute the growth of Twitter, Facebook or even simply overall online interactivity.  While we can’t ignore how Ashton Kutcher, CNN, Oprah, Michael Jackson, Iran, or the iPhone were in the news, here are the top 10 stories of our own Lehigh Valley which concerned social media.  Enjoy!  Many people brought forward these top 10 based on input from Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn over the last 48 hours.

10. The Bookstore is Exposed

There was talk of this new bar opening up on the Southside of Bethlehem and no one really knew what to expect.  Low and behold, as people made there way in to explore, they talked about it on Twitter and word got out.  The Speakeasy motif was unique and somehting new – a perfect candidate for social media buzz.  The following tweet proves it. By the way, the next @LVTweetup will be at the Bookstore 7-9pm on January 14th, preceeded by Wine and Cheese at @HomeAndPlanet from 6-7pm.

@Silagh: #lv2009 top10 I learned about South Bethlehem’s Bookstore Night Club from local Tweets. Got there first week it opened. Urban Chic~

9. Obama Visits Lehigh Valley, Tweets a flutter..

President Obama visits Lehigh Valley. Source: Monica Cabrera/The Morning Call

Friday December 4, the Lehigh Valley saw President Obama fly into LVIA on Air Force One, stop at Allentown Metal Works manufacturing facility, speak at Lehigh Carbon Community College, and eat at the Hamilton Family Restaurant in Allentown.  Through the eyes of the media as well as everyday tweeps and Facebook profiles, we felt like we were there on the runway, in the auditorium, and at the diner.  You could smell the eggs cooking.

8. Local People in the National Landscape Revealed

Many people are “nationally known and locally obscure”, but not when you are on Twitter or Facebook and identify in your bio you are from Bethlehem, Allentown or other Lehigh Valley cities.  You just can’t hide anymore.  Such is the case with two people we would not have heard of or even met if social media wasn’t around.  Two such people, Cindy Ratzlaff (@BrandYou) and Anne Coleman (@CookingWithAnne).

Cindy has developed the marketing and publicity campaigns for more than 150 New York Times bestselling books in her career at Rodale. She was named to the Ad Age Marketing 50 list for her blockbuster campaign launching The South Beach Diet.  After being laid off, Cindy is now a founding member of the International Social Media Association and is one of the first twenty Certified Social Media Strategists in the world.

Anne is a “mother of 7 children and wife to one man”. Her kids range in age from 2 years to 20 years.  In July 2005, she started a blog, Cooking with Anne, that began as a chronicle of her food life at home.  By January 2006, her blog won a Best of Blogs award for Best Food Blog. in November 2006, she was contacted by the Walt Disney Internet Group and asked to write for them at Family.com as Short Order Mom on their blog Cookies to Caviar.

7. Lehigh Valley Zoo Facebook group helps save zoo..

Earlier this year, a Facebook group was developed to save the Lehigh Valley Zoo.  Within a month, 2506 Facebook users joined and it even raised over $800 in a few short hours also with an online campaign on the group page. It can be found at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=43879323058.  Have a look!

6. Southside Burger Company Fire

Bethlehem Fire Dept. at Southside Burger Company fire. Source: M. Andreano (@mandreano)

I remember driving to St. Luke’s Hospital for an X-ray when as I was turning I saw smoke from the Southside. While in the ER, I turned to Twitter and found out the Southside Burger Company building had caught fire.  Everyday people were lined up at the gas station across the street taking pictures, texting and Tweeting.  News broke on Twitter and such faster than the typical media got a hold of it.  @MOB514, a Southside resident, was there to also capture details as they came out from the early morning sirens to the eventual demolition of the building.

5. Bethlehem Skateplaza is Saved

Over 100+ people came to City Hall in support of the Skatepark due to social media outreach. Source: HomeBase 610 blog

A proposal to pull the grant funding from the Bethlehem Skateplaza was to be brought to the City Council so when Andy Po (@homebase610) found out he got on Twitter he rallied support to keep the funds in place.  the people responded and they got 100+ young residents, parents and business owners through social media who supported the skateplaza to stand by city hall in support of its completion.   The town responded, the City listened and the skateplaza will now be breaking ground early in 2010. Check out the full story as told by Homebase Skateshop owner Andy Po at http://homebase610.com/?p=3497.

4. Geo-location, Mayors and Places to be..

There is no doubt that what you are doing and what is on your mind is what made social media a focal point in 2009, but more and more it is where you are at as well.  Applications like FourSquare and GoWalla came onto the scene and integrated where you are into what you are doing.  Fully integrated into tools like Twitter and Facebook, the adoption of these tools grew.  They are now available not only on the iPhone, but on the Droid and now Blackberry as well.  As use of these tools started, automated Tweets from the applicatoin itself spread about being Mayor of all these establishments where people were going (having been there at least 2 times in 2 months and continuing to be a frequent visitor, moreso than others made you Mayor).  This created a little friendly competition, as well as satire (talk of #fivesquare, being mayor of your house, and other fictional establishments) and ridicule.   Like it or not, it is here to stay, and you will probably see more of it in 2010.

3. MusikFest

Joan Jett plays MusikFest. Source: M. Andreano (@mandreano)

MusikFest has been around since 1984 but there was so much buzz around MusikFest online this year, it was almost like you could be there while just looking at your phone.  Twitter and Facebook saw contests, reviews, musical acts, photos, and more all centered around this August event.  Concert tickets were given away, vendors were given the thumbs up (or thumbs down), “wish you were here” pictures flooded online for that whole week.  You could almost tasted the brushed on butter of AwShucks corn as you read what and where people were at MusikFest.  Even the Mullet Count hanging from Spark’s windows were pushed out to the Twitter users who weren’t there in person to keep track of it.

2. Local Businesses & Bloggers Boom

It’s one thing to talk to your friends online about what you ate for dinner, how your co-worker said something annoying.  It’s also another when you are shopping and the sales people just won’t leave you alone.  Many folks don’t wanna constantly hear about your latest special, or limited quantities, or how you need this NOW.. and buy, buy, buy, buy, blah, blah, blah.  Well, we did see a lot of that online this year, the past years and you will continue to see it in the future, sorry folks!  However, some folks do it right by engaging social media to promote and advertise their business but do it tactfully and by considering the human factor of it all.  They are involved in the community and establish themselves as business leaders and it made their message stick a lot better.  Many local consumers advocate “#buylocal” and Twitter and Facebook had the pick of the litter to choose from.  Businesses like Hosfeld Insurance (@HOSFELDInsuranc) and Black Forest Deli (@BlackForestDeli) are people we got to know online not just for their businesses but as people too.   The rumor is that the hottest sandwich in the second half of 2009 at Black Forest Deli was the MOB, named after Michele of Bethlehem (@MOB514) on Twitter.  What is on a MOB?  It’s a triple decker sandwich with turkey, crispy bacon, avocado, honey mustard, tomatoes and lettuce.  Am I making you hungry?

The growth of blogging locally also came into the fold in 2009.  Three that really took advantage of social media were Lehigh Valley with Love (@LVwithLove) [may be NSFW], LV Scene (@lvscene) and the newest blog The El Vee (@theelvee).  If you haven’t already, check them out.

1. Tweetups for Community and Charity

The @LVTweetup received the most votes by the Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn community in our poll.  There were 8 Tweetups this past year in the Lehigh Valley.   April 13, 2009 was the first one at Allentown Brew Works.  We gave away T-shirts to the 30-some folks that came out that night and took a chance.  Since then there have been 8 total in Easton, Bethlehem, and Orefield.  Many business sponsors kicked in money, food and more, and we gave away t-shirts, beer mugs, golf balls, and sweatshirts throughout the year.  At our December Tweetup at Bethlehem Brew Works, we had over 100 attendees (see our Twitter list for who came), collected a large box of toys for Toys for Tots, and over 7 boxes of canned goods for the Trinitiy Soup Kitchen all in the holiday spirit.  Our silent auction raised almost $400 total for these two charities as well as some for the Lehigh Valley Zoo.

Many friendships and business networking opportunities blossomed as an outcome of these events.  Tim Fortner (@timshady) mentioned “I think of all of the off-line friendships that have been created from on-line introductions.  I’ve meet some pretty cool people that I talk on the phone with and actually hang out with.  It’s easy because you can meet people with common interests.”

Have a safe and prosperous new year.  See you online in 2010!  Follow us on Twitter and be a fan of our Facebook page.

Join us Thursday December 3, 2009 at Bethlehem Brew Works SteelGaarden 7-9pm for our December Holiday Tweetup.  We will be giving away FREE Sweatshirts and Long-Sleeve T-Shirts (pictured below).   And in case you ask, here’s the answer to What’s a Tweetup?

Holiday Tweetup Shirt Giveaway

BUT – You have to give to receive… Donations will be taken for Toys for Tots and Trinity Soup Kitchen.  Bring a new unwrapped toy or canned good and be entered to win a $25 Brew Works gift card!

Finally, in addition to the two charities, we are having a Silent Auction for items donated by other Tweetup regulars and local businesses including:

• Poster from movie “The Time Traveller’s Wife” (from @celston)
• A one wall faux painting job or full room, regular painting (from @faithfaux)
• Framed Photo of Bethlehem (from @Glennard)
• A photo session sitting including an 11×14 print from the session (from @lvph)
• A 18×24 photo canvas (from @mdesilets – visit www.Marty.fm)
• 2 Sets of Handpainted Wine Glasses (from @PMADesigns)
• TV Show Memorabilia basket (Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Psych, White Collar) (from @ssigafoos / @mcall)
• Starfish Brasserie Gift Card (from @Starfish_PA)
• American Sandwich Company Gift Card (from @ToastedBetter)
• Lehigh Valley Zoo tickets (from @rainmakerslv)
• Two tickets from Lehigh Valley to NYC (from @gwackr)
• A Puttle gift set (from @mr_puttle)

See you on December 3rd at 7PM Sharp!!

It seems no matter where we have a Tweetup, the people come out for them, from Easton to Orefield.  Another crowd of 40-plus people came out for the November Tweetup (@LVTweetup) at Magnolia’s in Orefield.  Below are some pictures from the event.  I was even interviewed by Cindy Ratzlaff (@BrandYou on Twitter) about these great monthly events.

Who attended? See the Twitter List of Attendees and it’s members.

@PMADesigns

@allanhill @Mr_Puttle @matt2397

@SteveFebbraro & @BelvidereChiro

@jenn_c & suzelor

@msarro @blackforestdeli @glennard @gwackr @timshady (further back: @koufie @jfis @galliguez)

@mandreano and "the girls of Twitter"

The many faces of @LVGirl (a.k.a. @BlabberMouthCom)

I thought I was taking a chance by having a Tweetup in Easton at Pearly Bakers.  After all, a lot of people come from the Allentown area and even further west and north.  However, nearly 40 people came out, risking being within a stone’s throw of New Jersey and the event was a HUGE success.  Thanks to @Doug_Mackie from UUU for helping us coordinate the same night he played to keep the party going past 9PM!!

We also now have a LVTweetup Flickr group, thanks to Todd (a.k.a. @obsidianspider).  I attached a couple from October below.

Here’s the coveted attendance list!! (As always, let me know if I missed someone!)

@mandreano, @lvtweetup, @dmbrennan, @lovelyblue27, @timshady, @donaldfladjr, @souldoll, @msarro, @lvrunners, @stateofplace, @obsidianspider, @robochristine, @lvgirl, @glennard, @theelvee@ssigafoos, @ejvictor, @cafe_society, @MOB514, @beatab74, @valleywidetravl, @valleywideshoes, @koufie, @tammyhuk, @thuk18045, @primerx24, @lifegrdsten, @d_murda, @themoneydome, @galliguez, @miller1749, @renewlv, @IamTheGreek, @hibecki, @blackforestdeli, @AVUEDesigns, @andredwilliams, @celston, @jimmyrocks, @doug_mackie, @jeffbernardino, @referralweb, @skincareguy

This list is also available at:  http://tweepml.org/October-2009-LVTweetup-attendees/ This site is great for quickly adding people to follow… Try it out!!

Upcoming Dates:

NOVEMBER Tweetup – 11/12/09 – Magnolia’s Vineyard Restaurant, Orefield, PA, 7-9PM

DECEMBER Tweetup – 12/3/09 – Bethlehem Brew Works Steelgaarden, Bethlehem, PA 7-9PM – HOLIDAY EDITION!! SPECIAL GIVEAWAY TOO!!  STAY TUNED!!

The next monthly LVTweetup will be held on Thursday, October 8th from 7-9 pm at Pearly Bakers Ale House located at the Historic Centre Square in downtown Easton, PA.  They will have $2 drafts and every Thursday night they feature a live acoustic show.  This week, we are pairing the @LVTweetup with a live set performed by Doug Mackie who is a driving force behind the popular cover band UUU.  Doug will begin his set at 9pm, so please come for the tweetup and stay for the show!

Another successful Lehigh Valley tweetup has come and gone.  It’s always great to meet new people, see others again and just continue to grow together.  I let the event speak for itself with the comradery, laughter, and in this case, the Puttle.

Here’s who came: @mandreano, @timshady, @obsidianspider, @lvrollergirls, @ms_steel, @Chikkisixx, @cwluc, @ssigafoos, @IamKFed, @lizbartolai, @mcall, @mldrabenstott, @matt2397, @lvgirl, @beatab74, @renewlv, @miller1749, @AvueDesigns, @LVScene, @LVHN, @DMBrennan, @PamelaMaurer, @PMADesigns, @J_Makua_Kane, @VeronicaG, @HosfeldInsuranc, @CElston, @IAmTheGreek, @TakeATaco, @Eric_Chase, @Mr_Puttle, @LovelyBlue27

A bunch of folks didn’t sign in, if I missed you, let me know…

…and as always – thanks to our sponsors: @mandreano, @thebrewworks, @celston, @danscameracity, @dancefusion1, @lvrollergirls, @mr_puttle, @renewlv, @mldrabenstott, @pmadesigns

Our golf ball giveaway

@cwluc talking to @iAmTheGreek & @AvueDesigns & @timshady

@mandreano (me) holding up a "Follow me to @LVTweetup" golf ball.

@PamelaMaurer and @DMBrennan at the @LVTweetup (photo taken by @TimShady)

After hearing what I considered a sub-part podcast earlier today, I decided to “just do it” and have a live show tonight – barely 12 hours notice.  We had 14 live listeners and 2 live callers.  What a blast!!  It was titled “Social Media in the Lehigh Valley“.  Here are some highlights:

• When and how much to use LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter
• Call-in live interviews with Lehigh Valley Rollergirls and Lehigh Valley with Love
• Lehigh Valley Tweetups past and present (and next week!)
• Valley news, opinions and iReporters and social scene talk – all real time!
• Social Media at Musikfest, Celtic Classic and Allentown Fair

Here’s a link to the 45 minute broadcast on demand “Social Media in the Lehigh Valley“.  Links to this and future shows are also featured on the right hand side here on our blog.

Our September @LVTweetup is now announced!!

Tweetup on the Green!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 6PM at Allentown Brew Works on the Green.

Join nearly 50 other local Lehigh Valley Twitter-ites for a Puttle tournament (mini-golf indoors) and meet the Lehigh Valley Rollergirls too.

The first 48 attendees get a sleeve of three LVTweetup Golf Balls FREE!

If you or someone you know would like to sponsor the event and giveaway, please contact @mandreano immediately.  See you on the Green in September!!

August Wrapup..

The Tweetup at Blue has come and gone (kinda like the food did…).   For those of you who got to enjoy the Thai Chicken, Brushetta, and Veggie Spring Rolls – save some for our other tweets next time, HA!

Everyone had a great time, here’s the attendance list (thanks to @timshady for scribing it up).

@mandreano, @lvtweetup, @cwluc, @marydunlap, @timshady, @dmbrennan, @mdrabenstott, @iluv2laugh, @jimharper, @kblumenau, @meganallyn, @celston, @pmadesigns, @beatab74, @renewlv, @iamthegreek, @takeataco, @primerx24, @kufarms, @msinformation, @toastedbetter, @hosfeldinsuranc, @synguy3, @sandesaimond, @learnsolmary, @lvgirl, @lvwithlove, @jimmyrocks, @nashguitargirl, @innis2winnis, @galliguez, @lvgrkgrl, @zoellnerarts, @kreatemarket, @skincareguy, @referralweb, @mr_puttle

And we can’t forget about PICTURES from @cwluc and @celston.